the general petraeus scandal. the pentagon now says the top u.s. commander in afghanistan, general john allen, is connected to jill kelley. details ahead. plus a late night search by the fbi of paula broadwell's home in charlotte. all of this as we face incredibly wide swinging weather patterns that seem to defy anything we've seen before. >> announcer: this is "early today" for tuesday, november 13th, 2012. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning, everyone. i'm lynn berry. there are stunning new details in the scandal that brought down cia chief general david petraeus. the news comes just days before four-star general john allen was to appear at a confirmation

hearing for a new role, overseeing our military throughout europe. that nomination is now on hold at the order of the president. nbc's tracie potts is live on capitol hill this morning. tracie. >> reporter: good morning everyone. lawmakers here want some answers and they may get them from the cia and fbi. they have a closed-door briefing on all this coming up tomorrow, a scandal that now involves two decorated generals. >> reporter: kelley is a woman she claimed she felt harassed by anonymous e-mails traced to broadwell. it i uncovered an affair between petraeus and broadwell.

petraeus resigned. broadwell talked about working with petraeus in afghanistan. the pentagon won't say what the relationship was between allen and kelley, but he's still on the job for now. in washington preparing for senate confirmation hearing that's been put on hold. meantime the fbi conducted a consensual search of broadwell's home. jill kelley's brother calls her the victim. >> she took issue with it. when she took issue, she didn't realize it was going to spark this storm. >> reporter: in washington congress wants to know why it took several days for them and the president to learn about petraeus. >> we need to focus on bigger issues. there was no national security breach. the fbi said it and i think that's the end of the story. >> reporter: lawmakers want to hear from petraeus not just on his affair but the investigation into the deaths in benghazi. back to the information about allen. it's important to note a senior

official says allen did nothing inappropriate. the inspector general is investigating. >> tracie potts in washington. thank you. general allen's boss, defense secretary leon panetta was the man in charge of the cia before petraeus. as tracie mentioned last night, speaking while aboard a flight to australia, panetta reacted to the petraeus scandal. >> it was a very sad situation to have a distinguished career like that end in this manner, and my heart obviously goes out to him and his family. but i think he took the right step. >> elsewhere, washington lawmakers will return to the capital this morning and be buzzing about the investigation. but they'll be facing a much larger problem, talking about the dealing with the trillion dollar fiscal cliff that, if not dealt with before the end of the year, will impact everyone in america.

today president obama will be meeting with key labor and progressive leaders at that time white house for the first in a series of high-profile economic talks that he will be hosting this week. in other news from hurricane sandy and last week's nor'easter to spring-like weather in the east and a mercury plunge in the west, where are asking what is with the crazy extremes in weather. nbc chief environmental affairs correspondent anne thompson has that story. >> reporter: america has a case of weather whiplash. >> 60 degrees as our high on friday and then 28 degrees as our high on saturday. >> reporter: this weekend the west went from summer to winter overnight. >> that's winter, ins stfrnlthswinter. >> reporter: the northeast bass beings in spring like temperatures, still recovering from superstorm sandy and a nor'easter. >> i'm waiting for the locusts next. >> reporter: this year alone the nation's endured a withering drought, the largest wildfires in history and the warmest month

on record. in 2011 there were 14 extreme weather events each doing more than a billion in damage. now some politicians are connecting the dots blaming the gases that come from burning coal, oil and gas from changing the climate. >> climate change, extreme weather, call it what you will, but it is undeniable. >> reporter: but when it comes to a specific event like sandy, most scientists are more cautious. >> we know that global warming shifts the odds of certain extreme events so we can't say that sandy was definitely caused by global warming but we can say it shifted the odds in its favor. >> reporter: what they are certain about is that sea levels are rising, about a foot here in the new york area since 1900. making sandy's storm surge that much more destructive, forever altering the coast line. extreme weather with extreme price tags becoming more common place. anne thompson, nbc news new york. for a look at your forecast, we check in with nbc

meteorologist bill karins, the man who checks all your extreme weather. >> thankfully there are none right now. a nice break for a lot of us, besides the temperatures in alas kachlt i'll get to that. in the western half of our country, pretty calm weather pattern. the storm system that was lingering in the northwest has moved northward and weakened as it went through the northern rockies. left with an onshore flow. that means warmer temperatures and moisture coming off the pacific. high pressure protects areas from utah to arizona all the way through california. we're not going to see too much bad weather or heavy rain. there are light showers right over the top of seattle heading up i-5 and up into the mountains. anywhere from portland northward, you'll have a chance of hit and miss showers, especially in washington state. temperaturewise, it's chilly in the inner mountain west. right along the coast, we've warmed up a little bit. typical for this time of year. should be gorgeous around los angeles to phoenix and there's a chance of showers on and off, especially washington state. usually that's the end of the

forecast. but i've got to show you how cold it is this morning in alaska, fairbanks right now is minus 22 degrees. the coldest temperatures of the year. today's highs aren't even going to get up to zero with sunshine. that's cold. that's a look at cloudy. bakersfield to san jose looking good, too, just the northwest with the clouds. no huge storms coming, and we need to get a little warm-up for our friends 2in alaska. the u.s. is poised to become the world's biggest oil producer. a new health scare for women. a petition with almost 400,000 signatures mushing macy's to drop donald trump. you're watching "early today."

stories making news this morning, new york governor andrew cuomo wants $30 billion in federal aid to rebuild after sandy. almost 60,000 customers are still without power on new york's long island and all new jersey drivers can buy gasoline today as odd/even rationing ends. over the next decade u.s. oil output is expected to surpass saudi arabia according to the international energy agency. by 2020, the u.s. could be the largest oil producer in the world. kevin clash, the voice of elmo on sesame street is taking a leave of absence after allegations surfaced of a relationship with an underage male. clash admits to the relationship but says it was between two consenting adults. the word of the year in the oxford american dictionary for 2012 is gif, which stands for graphics interchange format that can create simple animations and is widely used on the internet.

others words include eurogeddon, super pac and super storm. a new study finds a link between women who had the flu during pregnancy and autism. children born to women who had the flu while pregnant were at least twice as likely being diagnosed with autism before the age of three. pregnant women who had a fever for over a week were also at risk. researchers are urging pregnant women to get their flu shots. stocks started the week on the flat side but there was excitement when there was a trading glitch that ate up half the day's trading volume. 216 securities were affected. a major shakeup at microsoft this morning weeks after the lunch of windows 8, steven sinofsky is leaving the company. the 23-year veteran was widely seen as a possible successor to microsoft ceo steve ballmer.

antivirus software billionaire john mcafee is wanted for questioning in the murder of his name in belise. police say mcafee is the prime suspect. his company was sold to intel in 2011 for over $7 billion. more than 400,000 people have signed a petition asking macy's to cut ties with donald trump. a new macy's holiday ad reportedly makes light of trump's support of the so-called birther movement which questioned president obama's citizenship by showing him tugging on santa's beard to make sure it's him. research in motion is awaiting the blackberry ten operating system. motor 10 has named tesla model s the 2013 car of the year. coming up, an arizona woman runs over her husband with an suv for not voting. this is serious. plus, nascar's jeff gordon

will be writing a very big check over this fight. you're watching "early today."

plenty of other stories making news early today in america. we begin with new developments surrounding a deadly explosion that decimated an indianapolis neighborhood. investigators believe natural gas played a role in the blast but stopped short of labeling it

as the official cause. over two dozen homeowners are being kept out until the investigation is complete, but on monday they were allowed to return for an hour to salvage what they could. >> i'm a retiree and with heart problems, this is the last thing i needed. next to arizona where a six month pregnant woman nearly killed her husband for not voting on election day. listen to these 911 calls. >> somebody just got ran over here. >> this woman just ran down her boyfriend or husband in the parking lot. we just had a kid get hit by a car. >> somebody got hit by a car. >> police say the 28-year-old who blames president obama for her family's woes became irate and ran over her 36-year-old husband with her suv after learning he didn't show up at the polls. he's in critical condition while the wife faces domestic assault charges. let's get to sports. monday night football, steelers, chiefs,

pittsburgh's ben roethlisberger connected on a touchdown pass to mike wallace but kansas city's defense sacked big ben and he left the game with a separated shoulder. the steelers pulled out an overtime win with a field goal. final score 16-13. "yahoo! sports" is apologizing for the outage of its hugely popular fantasy football site on sunday just as the nfl games were starting. in the nba, a game-time three-point shot by utah's al jefferson bounced out and then in sending the game into o.t. and then in the third overtime, paul millsap's three-pointer wrapped up a 140-133 jazz win over the raptors. in baseball, rookie of the year honors in the american league went to mike trout of the los angeles angels. the nats' bryce harper was the national league rookie of the year. they were coincidentally teammates on the scottsdale scorpions just about a year ago. and the penalties have been handed out after a brawl at a

nascar race in phoenix on sunday. bumping on the track led to a fist fight between pit crews for jeff gordon and clint bowyer. gordon was fined $100,000 for intentionally wrecking bowyer's car. both drivers ended up losing the race. just ahead, two big reasons for teens to rejoice and which odd couple event happened on this date in tv history? plus, some of america's war veterans marked their own holiday by helping out others in need. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." we have light showers over washington state this morning. you can draw a line from medford south wards. you'll be dry. after a cool start, a nice afternoon. some of the best weather in the country will be found in southern california to arizona. still very cold in much of interior nevada. as we look at your thursday forecast, we dry it out. still partly cloudy in the northwest and temperatures in the 50s. really we're looking at nice tranquil weather pattern for the next couple days. >> looks nice. thanks so much. monday marked the beginning of the end for "twilight." >> e news asked pattinson if he'd ever play a vampire again before quickly adding the script had to be good.

victoria's secret has been under fire for using a native american style head dress on one of the models. a statement from the navajo nature said the lingerie maker is spitting on our culture. they have apologized and will cut the outfit from the show. david petraeus became an easy target for jimmy fallon this week. take a look. >> the director of the cia, general david petraeus has resigned after it came out that he had an affair with the woman who wrote his biography. it was like, damn, that's good investigative work. you got to give it up. big entertainment news, the james bond movie "skyfall" came in number one with $88 million. this is about a spy who fights terrorists and sleeps with a lester holt of women. critics are calling it well made while david petraeus is calling it relatable. if you're hearing a dull roar, do not adjust your

televisions. right now there is an enormous crowd gathered outside our rockefeller plaza studios for british boy band one direction. actually the "today" show said it's the largest crowd they've ever had. fans have been lined up since friday for the band's performance. that performance is this morning on the "today" show. finally today's date may ring a bell for some of our viewers. >> on november 13th felix unger was asked to remove himself from his place of residents. that request came from his wife. >> once a week for five years fell licks unger was kicked out of his house and forced to live with oscar madison, an odd couple as i've seen us. kind of like us here on "early today." >> i have had people say they think we're kind of alike, a brother-sister type thing. >> brother-sister, you giving me a hard time all the tirnlgs yes, that would make sense. you'd be the little brother.

>> really? wnbc 4 in new york city, a group of vets chose veterans day to help others rebounding from hurricane sandy. over 100 military vets spent their day handing out aid to hurricane sandy victims. the group belongs to a non-profit organization that's been on the ground in new york since the super storm has hit. doing good work there. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

some rodents is israel are now considered valuable assets. a security company displayed new bomb detecting technology that relies on these little guys. the mice are placed in a scanner and react to different odors blown their way. company officials say the mice flee from potentially dangerous skrents and this technology -- some of the titanic's most valuable treasurers are seeing the light of day. for the very first time most of the jewelry from the titanic will be on display with a three-city tour. the pieces include diamond, sapphire rings, broaches and a gold pocket watch. the exhibition is meant to show the public the wonder of deep sea exploration. just in case you have an extra $500,000 to throw around, this is what you can buy. the new lamborghini roadster was unveiled in singapore, an area that of course has a high concentration of millionaires. boasting a $445,000 price tag

and an equally impressive engine, the luxury model can go from zero to 60 in three seconds flat and reach top speeds of over 200 miles per hour. >> you know what that feels like? >> absolutely not. new york city i go about 25 miles per hour max. >> i have a friend with a '60 corvette. he punched it once, and you kind of push back into your seat. >> big bragging. >> it's something you should do once in your life, in a very safe area, controlled. it's time for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. dozens of newly elected members of the 1137 congress will take their first official picture on the steps of the capitol today. during the two-week new member orientation, the freshmen are briefed on everything from ethics to choosing staff members. swearing in takes place january 3rd. aaa releases its annual thanksgiving holiday travel forecast. officials will hold a news conference at reagan washington

national airport. last year more than 42 million americans traveled 50 miles or more during the thanksgiving holiday weekend. happy birthday to funny man jimmy kimmel. he turns 45 today. all day long you can stay on top of the latest developments on those stories and others as they break on msnbc. tonight be sure to watch "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. finally, here is a look at what's coming up later on the "today" show. full details on the elmo pep peteer facing sex ap bus ap gagss. and one direction takes over the plaza with a huge live concert. keep it on this channel for continuing news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry, thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one.